Plant of the Month for July
Potato
Solanum tuberosum
As a change from the usual selection of an ornamental plant this months choice is from those classed as ‘crops’. In the UK we perhaps would think of this choice as a native plant as it is used in most of our traditional fare – bangers & mash, fish and chips, the Sunday roast and crisps. It is the humble potato.
It does however have its origins in South America particularly high in the Andes in Peru where it has been grown for thousands of years. It has the history of being introduced into Europe in the 1550's and is supposed to have been grown on the Estates of Sir Walter Raleigh in Ireland in the 1890's. Its arrival saw a boom in the population of the country and is associated with the Great Potato Famine of 1845. This was eventually discovered to be as a result of Potato Blight – then a new disease which severely devastated not only the crops but also the communities.
The Potato has been highly developed and we can now gain access to an increasing number of varieties ( displays of the varieties are often shown at flower shows such as at Tatton JHS and Southport flower show ). They can be grown in 12 weeks for First Earlies, 14 weeks for Second Earlies or 16 weeks for Maincrops, and they come in a wide range of texture, flavour and colour.
At college we have in the O.K.G examples of Charlotte – a top quality Salad potato as well as Edzell Blue a variety with a blue coloured skin.
The plant has other features, they produce an abundance of dense foliage which provides a wonderful natural weed suppression, the plant produces distinctive white or purple flowers followed by small green tomato like fruits. As the tubers are formed beneath soil level it is beneficial to mound the soil around the plant to prevent the tubers turning green (these contain poisons). This also helps to improve the number of tubers so that from July onwards the crop can be lifted and used in your favourite manner/dish.
Although the potato is easy to grow it does require some work planting, earthing up and harvesting means soil cultivation and this is one of the reasons the Potato is classed as a ‘sceaning crop’.
Sadly the potato can still be susceptible to Blight and it may still cause severe crop damage. But modern varieties do have some resistance to the disease. The crop can be grown in numerous ways including the cultivation of early varieties in containers or even new potatoes for Christmas with a little care and attention.
So next time you are tucking into the carton of chips or the jacket potato from the College Restaurant or that packet of crisps just stop and think what type of potato is it, what does it taste like, where has it been cultivated and try to find your favourite.
And if growing vegetables is not your thing, don’t write off the genus selanum which contains a large range of plants including aubergine and some grown for their flowers or attractive fruit. A few of these can be grown outside in sheltered spots, under glass or as houseplants, all having the distinctive flower style of the potato plant.
